The 13 planes flew to Norway in a World War II mission to transport troops out, or bring supplies in to supply Germany troops at an important shipping port, as the supplies by German ships had been stopped by the allied ships

The winter mission was very risky and behind enemy lines, and did not succeed when the aircraft were damaged when landing on the frozen surface of the lake, making them unable to take-off again.

When the ice melted in the spring, the aircraft sank to the lakebed, where they remained for more than 40 years.

and some have been lifted out

The Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr - Flugplatz Berlin Gatow has assisted in several recoveries of underwater

A Ju 52/3m airplane recovered from Lake Hartvikvann near Narvik (Norway) in a joint project by Gunther Leonhardt (Aviation Museum Laatzen-Hannover), on 22 August 1986. Today, the plane is on display in the Ju 52 hangar of the Wunstorf airfield on loan from our Museum.

A Focke-Wulf 190 D-9 plane recovered from Lake Schwerin in Nov 1990.

Parts of the Fritz X guidable rocket bomb recovered in Hesedorf in June 2008.

A Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun plane recovered from the Jasmund Bodden on the island of Rügen in Nov 2009

A Junkers JU 88, recuperated from the Baltic Sea close to Sassnitz in June 2012, by the museum, divers from Mountain Engineer Battalion 8, Ingolstadt and the crew of German Navy seagoing tug Spiekeroog. The wreck is now being preserved in the museum conservation center and examined by museum historians.

My dad served as police officer in the 70's-80's and when I told him recently that I like Tom Waits, he told me this little story: My dad was called to go down to a massage parlor because there was some guy waving a knife. It was out of his district so they called another guy on it. That guy was killed when the loony took the gun out of his holster and shot him. Three days later was the funeral, thousands of radio cars, the mayor, all that. My dad was driving by the Tropicana Hotel where Tom Waits lived and out on the porch, looking right at the radio cars, Tom Waits and Chuck E. (2) were singing "I Shot the Sheriff" (3) loud enough for all the cars to hear. My dad never forgot that... Years later: There's a dispute at a bar. Chuck E. and Tom Waits are there. My dad and two other guys are called to check it out. Chuck E. makes a move like he's going for a gun and my dad pulls out his piece. Tom Waits jumps on my dad and the two cops and my dad beat Tom Waits down on the floor. Tom Waits sues, the county loses money".

According to Waits, after a confrontation with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, he and Weiss were manacled, held at gunpoint and finally arrested. One of Duke's patrons phoned the police to protest the incident and at press time the Sheriff's Internal Investigations Bureau had begun an inquiry. According to the sheriff's report, Waits and Weiss came to the defense of a man who had crowded ahead of 3 plainclothes deputies in line at Duke's. The report states that "Suspects Weiss and Waits ... yelled to the unknown male, 'Hey man, I've got these dudes covered ...' and then told the deputies 'You guys want to fight? Come on.' Waits and Weiss went outside and when "the deputies exited the location, suspects Weiss and Waits assumed the combative stance with clenched fists, stating "Let's go at it.'" The deputies then identified themselves and, due to a "sudden movement" by Weiss toward his waistband, "grabbed his arms." Both suspects were placed under arrest.

Waits' version is that the three deputies picked fights with customers at Duke's. Waits, Weiss and a female companion(5) left and stopped outside to make a phone call. "The next thing they knew," said Herb Cohen, Waits' manager, "the cops came running out, pulled their guns, threw them down on the ground and handcuffed them. They told Chuck they were arresting them for homosexual soliciting and being drunk and disorderly."

At their arraignment June 8th, Waits and Weiss pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial, which was set for June 20th. "When we start taking the testimony of the witnesses, the police will look pretty stupid," stated Cohen, "They are going to get a little upset. But they deserve it." Tom Waits commented that "those guys must have gotten their dialogue from watching too many reruns of Dragnet."

"Tom Waits and Chuck E Weiss were found not guilty in a unanimous decision by a 12 person jury on 2 charges of disturbing the peace. The verdict concluded a bizarre 3 day trial in which Waits' attorney, Terry Steinhart(10), presented 8 eyewitnesses who disputed the report of the original arresting officers and presented testimony of extreme abuse to Waits and Weiss by the deputies.

One witness, Mike Ruiz(11) of the rock group Milk 'n' Cookies testified that one of the plainclothes sheriffs had Waits in a headlock and was pounding his head into the side of a telephone booth. When Ruiz was cross examined by Deputy District Attorney Ronald Lewis, he was asked to reenact with Lewis what he saw. Lewis said, "I'll be the deputy and you be Waits and show me what happened." Ruiz replied, "No, you be Waits and I'll be the cop."

Judge Andrew J. Weisz was hard put to maintain decorum in the courtroom. Accused of challenging the deputies to fight and using profane language, Waits (uncharacteristically well groomed) testified that he had "growled a little under my breath. It was somewhere between a harrumph and a Bronx cheer."

Waits and Weiss have filed a claim against the county for false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution and defamation of character. They are asking for $100,000 each in general damages and reimbursement of attorney fees and court costs."

(Source: "Random Notes". Rolling Stone p. 29-31. August 11, 1977)

According to Waits' attorney, Terry Steinhart(10), the plainclothesmen "spread- eagled my client, threw a couple of rabbit punches and held a gun to the side of his head before handcuffing hirn and taking him to jail." After a jury trial in Beverly Hills Municipal Court that summer, Waits and Weiss were found not guilty of all charges. Subsequently, Waits filed the civil action that finally went to judicial arbitration earlier this year. After a three-day hearing, Waits won the $7,500 award, which his attorney says will be paid by the county Auditor's Office.

Maybe you can fight City Hall, but why was Waits willing to go through the five-year legal battle? There are so many people who feel powerless when it comes to dealing with institutions like the police who have unlimited authority," he sald. "I just felt like I'd take my own problem on as a project and see it through."

for verification, look in the upper left corner of the below image... it just shows that the next one is the 29,999th

It's been 10 years and 11 months, 3 laptops (and this one is on it's last legs) my 4th daily commuter car, a couple of girlfriends and yet... I still haven't had the money to pay down my credit card, get my own apartment and fix up my 69 R/T.

I sometimes (often) blame my compulsion to keep cranking out this blog as the reason I haven't focused on getting a better paying job and having a far more pleasant material existence.

Because you can be sure, I've wasted many hours every single day for nearly 11 years adding new stuff to this site and enjoyed it, it has been a source of happy time passed, and many incredible things learned. I made some friends, many acquaintances, and a lot of press passes.

I forgot to, so I will now, mention that I still believe that I've created the best damn site that I would ever want to read through... I dig most everything I've ever posted.

it's either eye candy, brain candy, machine shop and tool porn, engine porn, paint and airbrush awesomeness, and the most complete collection of everything that Von Dutch ever did that I could put together, plus a hell of a lot of Ed Roth.

I've had a hell of a good run with this blog, but, at the same time, somedays you oughta know, I fell like walking away from it too. Some day I probably will. I've never found anyone who would want to take it over and keep adding to it like I have - without advertising, without naked women, while still doing some news, keeping it somewhat general about all things with wheels - like tractors, buses, trains, cars, motorcycles, trailers, airplanes, movie previews, tv show and movie cars, atvs, Red Bull soap box derbys, etc.

but sometime I will probably either be unable to do more because I'm too damn broke, homeless, or whatever. Oh, fyi, for about 8 of the 11 years I've been doing this site I've been homeless. Not hopeless, not jobless, just making enough money after paying bills to afford an apartment in San Diego (900 at best, but usually about 1200 a month). No shit. Had a job since 1988, well, many jobs, and have only ever had 2 weeks of unemployment pay

I hope to someday just wander into my garage and tinker away and putter and never touch the internet again.... I'd be happy. I'd love to fix up a hot rod, a 32 Ford, roadster or 3 window, or 5 window... but hey, we all have dreams right? I'd like to just hit the road and see all the museums of cars, boats, and engines. I'd love to look through antique stores, backyards and garages.

I'd like to hit the big events, Goodwood, Essen, Bonneville, etc. Not very likely, but ya gotta have goals right?

Also, I know a lot of you aren't happy with the many posts about shitty corrupt cops. Too bad. Those are facts, those articles that I post. I cite the sources, I bring them up as news, and warnings, and as a public duty to keep voicing outrage at the horrible corrupt police, sherriff's, and highway patrol departments that have committed atrocities against my countrymen, my fellow citizens, etc.

You might not like reading those, hell, I don't find them happy news either, but, if you don't speak up against the shit that happens, and use your site to spread the word about them, you're aiding and abetting the fucked up twisted people that do things you're quite sure are illegal, immoral, and unconscionable. And I'm not going to stop speaking out against them.

See, I was in the military police, 3 years of it, and it really pisses me off to see people with the power of the uniform and badge being such complete assholes. We the people deserve better. Maybe you've felt upset about co-workers doing a shit job at something that reflects badly on you, your profession, and the things you once took pride in. So, maybe you now get where I'm coming from. Don't take that shit without putting up a fight.

Worst of all, cops get away with that shit. Well, I'm not going to look the other way, I'm going to use what I've got to let people know that there's a problem with the system. You can always just keep scrolling along and ignore it, because I post a lot of charity stuff too

playing to stereotypes, Missouri State Trooper Anthony Piercy, this donut eater from Missouri handcuffed a drunk college guy in an boat on a lake, then sped across the lake at speeds between 40 and 50 mph, allowing the turbulent waves catch the boat off balance and toss the drunk handcuffed guy into the water, causing him to drown. Another police misconduct and murder of an unarmed citizen event.

Also typical, the pos in uniform (Missouri State Highway Patrol officer) gets a wrist slap sentence (misdemeanor boating violation, negligent operation of a vessel, avoiding a trial for involuntary manslaughter.) 10 days in jail, in 2 sets of 5 days.

Why? Because the the prosecutor who declined to file manslaughter charges against Piercy, had received a personal favor from the MHP three years earlier when the department declined to charge her then-18-year-old son with DUI.

Late last year, the family won a lawsuit over records. A judge in that case ruled that the patrol knowingly and purposely violated the Sunshine Law by not handing over some information or delaying the release of other documents.

The publisher William Randolph Hearst had offered a US$50,000 prize to the first aviator to fly coast to coast, in either direction, in less than 30 days from start to finish.

In June 1911, Calbraith Perry Rodgers, 32 year old former football star, yachtsman, auto racer, and grandson of Oliver Perry (hero of the Battle of Lake Erie) a risk-taking sort of sportsman, was visiting his cousin John, a naval aviator, who since March was studying at the Wright Company factory and attending flying school in Dayton, Ohio.

Rodgers became interested in aviation, took about 90 minutes of instruction from Orville Wright, became the first private citizen to buy a Wright airplane, a Wright Model B modified and called the Model EX and in June 1911 before soloing, and had won an $11,000 air endurance prize in a contest in August.

Since the airplane would need a considerable support crew, Rodgers persuaded J. Ogden Armour, of meatpacking fame, to sponsor the attempt, and in return named the plane after Armour's new grape soft drink Vin Fiz.

The support team rode on a three-car train called the Vin Fiz Special, and included Charlie Taylor, the Wright brothers' bicycle shop and aircraft mechanic.

The flight began at 4:30 pm, September 17, 1911, when Rodgers took off from the Sheepshead Bay Racetrack in Brooklyn, New York flying without instruments or navigational aids or maps, certainly no heater or other creature comforts, at a breathtaking (and time-consuming) 45 to 55 miles per hour.

To avoid the Rocky Mountains, he took a southerly route, flying through the Midwest until reaching Texas.

Although the plan called for a large number of stops along the way, in the end there were 75, including 16 crashes, and Rodgers was injured several times. Taylor and the team of mechanics rebuilt the Vin Fiz Flyer when necessary, and only a few pieces of the original plane actually made the entire trip.

On November 5, having missed the prize deadline by 19 days, Rodgers landed in Pasadena, California, in front of a crowd of 20,000. On the 12th he took off for Long Beach, California, but crashed at Compton, with a brain concussion and a spinal twist. He was hospitalized for three weeks. Finally, on December 10 he landed on the beach, and taxied the Flyer into the Pacific Ocean, completing the unprecedented journey of over 4,000 statute miles (6,400 km). Actual flying time totalled under 84 hours.

In 1986 the Vin Fiz flight was re-enacted in a replica to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the original journey.